Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator includes a freezing compartment and a door for selectively opening or closing at least a part of the freezing compartment The door includes a foam insulating layer and a sidewall contacting the foam insulating layer. A heater is installed correlative with the sidewall to supply heat to the sidewall.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a refrigerator, especially to a household orcommercial refrigerator.

BACKGROUND ART

The freezing compartment of a refrigerator can usually reach atemperature of lower than minus ten ° C. or more. The refrigerator bodyand the door of the refrigerator are provided with heat insulatinglayers to avoid losing of cold energy caused by heat exchange betweenthe cold air within the refrigerator and the surrounding environment.However, as the increase in the refrigerator's volume and in the numberof the components of the refrigerator door (for example, a dispenser fordispensing water or ice), some portions of the refrigerator door whichare exposed to the atmosphere may have relatively low temperature underthe influence of the storage compartment. When the difference betweenthe temperature of the surface exposed to the atmosphere and theatmosphere temperature reaches dew point temperature, condensation willappear on the surface.

The sidewall of the refrigerator door remote from the rotation axis ofthe door will be influenced by the freezing compartment during theclosing of the door. Thus, it is possible to generate condensate dropson this side wall. This is especially obvious when the refrigerator dooris provided with an ice dispenser.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to overcome at least one of the abovetechnical problems existed in the prior art, and to provide arefrigerator for greatly reducing the possibility of presence ofcondensate drops on the freezing compartment door.

An aspect of the invention relates to a refrigerator which comprises afreezing compartment and a door for selectively opening or closing atleast a part of the freezing compartment, wherein the door comprises afoam insulating layer and a sidewall contacting the foam insulatinglayer, and the refrigerator is characterized by further comprising aheater which is installed correlative with the sidewall to supply thesidewall with heat.

When the heater is turned on, the temperature of the sidewall can beincreased, so as to greatly reduce the possibility that condensationappears on the sidewall of the freezing compartment door, and therebyoccurrence of the dewing phenomenon on the freezing compartment door canbe reduced.

Other features which are disclosed individually or in combination asfeatures of the invention are defined in attached claims.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the heater islocated on the inner side of the sidewall.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the refrigeratorincludes adhesive means for attaching the heater to the inner side ofthe sidewall.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the refrigeratorincludes a heat conducting element for transmitting heat generated bythe heater to the sidewall, the heat conducting element being locatedbetween the inner surface of the sidewall and the heater. Thereby, theheat generated by the heater can rapidly spread out so as to avoidoverheating of any partial region of the door.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the door isrotatable around a rotation axis parallel to a vertical axis, and thesidewall is parallel to the rotation axis. According to a particularlypreferred embodiment of the invention, the sidewall is located distantfrom the rotation axis.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the refrigeratorfurther comprises a dispenser located on the door and configured todispense ice.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the heater is, ina transverse direction, at least partially overlapped with thedispenser, so as to greatly reduce the possibility of generatingcondensate drops on a part of the sidewall which transversely overlapsthe dispenser and is otherwise easy to generate condensate drops. Such aconfiguration can effectively reduce the possibility of generatingcondensate drops on the whole sidewall of the door.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the refrigeratorfurther comprises a heating unit for supplying heat to the dispenser.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the refrigeratorfurther comprises a control unit and a sensing unit for detecting atleast one parameter, and the heater is automatically controlled by thecontrol unit based on the parameter detected by the sensing unit.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the parametercomprises ambient temperature and/or ambient relative humidity and/orthe temperature of the sidewall.

The structure and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the description to the preferred embodiments withreference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be further understood by reading the followingdetailed description with reference to the drawings which areincorporated herein as a part of the description and illustrate theinvention and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a refrigerator according to apreferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial sectional view taken along a directionindicated by line I-I of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a partly assembled door of the accordingto the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic layout of a heating unit of a dispenser casingaccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of the refrigerator according to apreferred embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to the drawings, in particular FIGS. 1 and 2. Arefrigerator 1 comprises a refrigerator body 2 and two doors 3 connectedto the refrigerator body 2, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The refrigerator body 2 comprises an outer shell 11, an inner shell 12and a heat insulating layer 6 disposed between the outer shell 11 andthe inner shell 12. In this embodiment, the heat insulating layer 6 is afoam-based insulating layer and is formed by foaming a heat insulatingfoam material. The refrigerator body 2 defines at least one storagespace for storing food. In this embodiment, the storage space comprisesa freezing compartment 7 and a refrigerating compartment (not shown)which are juxtaposed with each other.

The doors 3 are pivotably connected to the refrigerator body 2 by hinges4 respectively, and are rotatable about their corresponding rotationaxes which are parallel to a vertical axis. As shown in FIG. 2, it isalso provided with a foam-based insulating layer 6 inside each of thedoors 3. The doors 3 are usually closed to avoid escape of cold air fromthe freezing compartment 7 and the refrigerating compartment. Whendesired, the user may open the corresponding door 3 to perform anoperation, such as taking out food from the freezing compartment orrefrigerating compartment, or putting food into a corresponding storagecompartment. The user can open or close the doors 3 by means of handles5.

In this embodiment, each door 3 is configured to completely open orcompletely close a corresponding storage compartment. It can beunderstood that the invention is not limited thereto, and otherembodiments are also possible. For example, in an alternativeembodiment, one of the storage compartments may be opened or closed bytwo doors 3. That is to say, each door 3 may only open or close a partof such a storage compartment.

The door 3 which is corresponded to the freezing compartment 7(hereinafter referred to as freezing compartment door) is equipped witha dispenser 8 to allow a user to take out ice and/or beverage (forexample water), such as ice stored in the freezing compartment and waterstored in a water tank arranged in the refrigerating compartment,without opening the door 3. Although in this embodiment the dispenser 8is arranged in the door 3 which is corresponded to the freezingcompartment, it shall be appreciated that it is also possible to arrangethe dispenser 8 in a suitable way in the door 3 which is corresponded tothe refrigerating compartment.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the freezing compartment door 3 comprises adoor panel 13 forming its front surface and an inner lining 23 facingtowards the freezing compartment 7 when the freezing compartment door 3is in its closed position. In this embodiment, the door panel 13 is madeof a sheet metal material, and both sides of the door panel 13 are bentbackwardly and extend to form into first and second longitudinalsidewalls 48 and 49 respectively. The heat insulating layer 6 is intight contact with the door panel 13 and the first and secondlongitudinal sidewalls 48 and 49.

The door panel 13 has an opening 9 corresponding to the dispenser 8,which opening 9 having a substantially square or rectangular shape. Thedispenser 8 comprises a dispenser casing 10 received between the doorpanel 13 and the inner lining 23. The dispenser casing 10 forms a cavity14 which is inwardly recessed and has a front open end. The shape anddimension of the front open end of the inner cavity 14 correspond tothat of the opening 9 substantially. The inner lining 23 protrudestoward the freezing compartment 7 at the location corresponded to thedispenser casing 10, with a predetermined distance between theprotruding portion of the inner lining 23 and the dispenser casing 10for disposing the heat insulating layer 6.

The dispenser 8 comprises a partition plate 15 within the inner cavity14. The partition plate 15 is parallel to a horizontal plane andseparates the inner cavity 14 into upper and lower portions. The portionof the inner cavity 14 located below the partition plate 15 forms into adispensing cavity 16 whose front end is kept open. The dispensing cavity16 is configured to accept at least a part of an external container suchas a cup. In this embodiment, the dispensing cavity 16 is recessedbackwardly from the front surface of the door 3 with a certain curvatureto a predetermined depth.

The dispensing cavity 16 has a substantially flat support wall 17 forstably putting the external container thereon. The support wall 17 has aplurality of thin through holes (not shown), through which any liquidthat is splashed out or overflows accidentally during an ice or waterdispensing process flows into a water gathering slot 19 arranged belowthe support wall 17.

The refrigerator 1 comprises a control panel 20 arranged on the freezingcompartment door 3, and the control panel 20 comprises a display screen21 and a plurality of buttons or a touch area 22 for controlling therefrigerator 1. The display screen 21 can display the state of therefrigerator 1 and/or selectable parameters, etc.

In this embodiment, the control panel 20 is arranged along the upper endof the opening 9, closely adjacent to the dispensing cavity 16. Theportion of the opening 9 located above the partition plate 15 is adaptedto be conformed to the out profile of the control panel 20, such thatthe control panel 20 can be engaged by the corresponding edge of theopening 9. The portion of the inner cavity 14 located above thepartition plate 15 is shielded by the control panel 20.

The dispenser casing 10 comprises a cavity wall delimiting the innercavity 14. The cavity wall comprises a first portion 24 located belowthe partition plate 15. The first portion 24 comprises a longitudinalwall 30 for forming a longitudinal boundary of the dispensing cavity 16.The longitudinal wall 30 is perpendicular to the horizontal plane andhas a substantially arc-shaped cross-section. The longitudinal wall 30has a rear surface which is closely adjacent to the heat insulatinglayer 6 and an outer surface which is exposed to the atmosphere.

The first portion 24 further comprises a bottom wall 31 which isconnected to the lower end of the longitudinal wall 30 and extendsforwardly. The bottom wall 31 is located below the support wall 17 andspaced from the support wall 17 by a certain distance so as to form theabove-mentioned water gathering slot 19.

The cavity wall of the dispenser casing 10 further comprises a secondportion 25 which is connected to the upper end of the first portion 24and is located above the partition plate 15. The second portion 25comprises an inclined wall 26 which extends from the longitudinal wall30 and is inclined forwardly. The inclined wall 26 comprises a throughhole 27 which allows ice to pass therethrough. The through hole 27 isconfigured as a part of an ice transfer passage 29. The ice transferpassage 29 is used for transferring ice from an ice storage unit 28located within the freezing compartment 7 to the dispensing cavity 16.The second portion 25 further comprises a top wall 32 which forms theupper boundary of the inner cavity 14. The second portion 25 has a hole33 through which a water supply pipe (not shown) passes, which watersupply pipe transmitting drinkable water to the dispensing cavity 16.

An ice discharge pipe 34 forming a major part of the ice transferpassage 29 is embedded in the freezing compartment door 3. One end ofthe ice discharge pipe 34 is connected to the second portion 25 and isin communication with the through hole 27. The other end of the icedischarge pipe is oriented towards a discharge outlet of the ice storageunit 28 within the freezing compartment 7 when the freezing compartmentdoor 3 is closed. Thereby, the ice discharged from the ice storage unit28 enters into the ice discharge pipe 34, and then is guided to thedispensing cavity 16 by means of an ice outlet 18 provided in thepartition plate 15.

As shown in FIG. 2, the portion of the inner cavity 14 which lies abovethe partition plate 15 is shielded by the control panel 20; however, thesecond portion 25 of the dispenser casing 10 still communicates with theatmosphere, that is, the second portion 25 is still exposed to theatmosphere, because the partition plate 15 is provided with the iceoutlet 18 which is in communication with the portion of the inner cavity14 which lies above the partition plate 15.

To prevent air within the freezing compartment 7 from escaping from thefreezing compartment 7 through the ice transfer passage 29 or preventoutside air from entering into the freezing compartment 7 through theice transfer passage 29, the dispenser 8 is equipped with a closureelement 36 for opening or closing the ice transfer passage 29. Usually,the ice transfer passage 29 is closed by the closure element 36. Whenthere is a need for dispensing ice, the ice transfer passage 29 isopened by means of the closure element 36 to allow the transfer of ice.The shape and dimension of the closure element 36 are substantiallycorresponded to that of the through hole 27, such that in the closedposition the closure element closes the through hole 27 and thus closesthe ice transfer passage 29. In this embodiment, the closure element 36is connected to the second portion 25 of the dispenser casing 10 and isreceived in the inner cavity 14.

Under the influence of the freezing compartment 7, the temperature ofthe dispenser casing 10 is usually lower than room temperature/ambienttemperature. When the difference between ambient temperature and thetemperature of the dispenser casing 10 reaches dew point temperature,condensate drops will be generated on the dispenser casing 10. Thecondensation possibility is relatively high due to the fact that thesecond portion 25 of the dispenser casing 10 is close to the icedischarge pipe 34 and forms a part of the ice transfer passage 29. Forthis end, the refrigerator 1 is provided with a heating unit 37 forincreasing the surface temperature of the dispenser casing 10. As shownin FIG. 2, the heating unit 37 is arranged between the dispenser casing10 and the heat insulating layer 6.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the heating unit 37 according to apreferred embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the heatingunit 37 comprises a first heater 38 and a second heater 39 adjacent tothe first heater 38, for supplying heat to the dispenser casing 10. Thefirst heater 38 and the second heater 39 are preferably resistanceheaters, i.e. performing heating by resistors.

In order to evenly transmit the heat generated by the first heater 38and the second heater 39 to the dispenser casing 10, the heating unit 37further comprises a first heat conducting element 40 for transmittingthe heat generated by the first heater 38 and the second heater 39 tothe dispenser casing 10. In this embodiment, the first heat conductingelement 40 is an aluminum foil having a high heat conductivity.

The first heat conducting element 40 has a hole (not shown) which iscorresponded to the through hole 27. The first heater 38 and the secondheater 39 can be arranged according to the distribution characteristicsof condensate drops on the dispenser casing 10. In this embodiment, thefirst heater 38 comprises a plurality of arc-shaped heating segments 35arranged around the hole. The second heater 39 is arranged close to thefirst heater 38 and preferably comprises a portion located betweenheating segments 35 of the first heater 38. Preferably, this portion hasa shape that corresponds to the heating segment 35.

After the first heater 38 and the second heater 39 are arranged in apredetermined pattern on one side of the first heat conducting element40, the other side of the first heat conducting element 40 is closelyattached to the inner side of the dispenser casing 10.

The heating unit 37 is adhered to the inner side of the dispenser casing10 by means of adhesive means (not shown), with the hole of the firstheat conducting element 40 being aligned with the through hole 27. Thefirst heat conducting element 40, the first heater 38 and the secondheater 39 all are flexible and deformable, such that the portion of theheating unit 37 located between line A and line B is arranged on theinclined wall 26, the portion thereof located above line A is bent andthen is adhered to the top wall 32 of the dispenser casing, and theportion thereof located below line B is bent and then is connected tothe upper end of the longitudinal wall 30. Thereby, in this embodiment,the first heater 38 is mainly arranged on the inclined wall 26 and thetop wall 32 of the dispenser casing 10. The lower end portion of thefirst heater 38 extends to the upper end of the longitudinal wall 30.The heating segment 35 most close to the through hole 27 is arrangedaround the through hole 27. The major portion of the second heater 39 isarranged on the inclined wall 26. The portion located below line B ofthe second heater extends to the upper end of the longitudinal wall 30together with that of the first heater 38.

In this embodiment, the first heater 38 and the second heater 39 aredisposed on a first region 51 and a second region 52 of the dispensercasing 10 respectively. The first region 51 is adjacent to the secondregion 52, but they do not overlap each other. The first region 51comprises the majorities of the inclined wall 26 and the top wall 32 aswell as the upper end portion of the longitudinal wall 30 which is closeto the inclined wall 26. The second region 52 has an area smaller thanthe first region 51 and is surrounded by the first region 51.

Preferably, the power of the second heater 39 is lower than that of thefirst heater 38. Preferably, the power density of the second heater 39is configured in such a way that the dispenser casing 10 is notsubjected to overheating even if the second heater 39 is turned on for along time or always turned on.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the side of thelongitudinal wall 30 which faces the heat insulating layer 6 is providedwith a second heat conducting element 50, the upper end of which isconnected to the first heater 38 and the second heater 39 or connectedto the first heat conducting element 40. Thereby, the first and secondheaters 38 and 39 and/or the first heat conducting element 40 serve as aheat source for the second heat conducting element 50.

Since the second heat conducting element 50 is of a high heatconductivity, the heat generated by the first and second heaters 38 and39 is also transmitted to other portions of the longitudinal wall 30that are not equipped with any heating element, such that thetemperature of the whole longitudinal wall 30 can be increased so as toavoid the presence of condensate drops. Since the longitudinal wall 30is located relatively distant from the ice transfer passage 29, such aconfiguration allows to avoid the presence of condensate drops on thelongitudinal wall 30 without arranging any heater on the longitudinalwall 30 or merely by arranging a heater on the marginal region of thelongitudinal wall 30 where is not easy to be touched by the user. Thus,energy consumption can be lowered. In addition, the situation that theuser touches the high temperature region of the longitudinal wall 30 canbe avoided.

Preferably, the second heat conducting element 50 comprises a metal foilof a high heat conductivity, such as aluminum foil. In a particularlypreferable embodiment, the second heat conducting element 50 covers atleast substantially most of the longitudinal wall 30. For example, thelongitudinal wall 30 is entirely covered by the second heat conductingelement 50. The second heat conducting element 50 is preferably adheredto the inner side of the longitudinal wall 30.

The first longitudinal sidewall 48 of the freezing compartment door 3 islocated adjacent to the rotation axis of the freezing compartment door3, so that the second longitudinal sidewall 49 opposite to the firstlongitudinal sidewall 48 is located distant from the rotation axis ofthe freezing compartment door 3 and close to the door of therefrigerating compartment. According to a preferred embodiment of theinvention, the freezing compartment door 3 is provided with a thirdheater 47 for supplying heat to the second longitudinal sidewall 49, soas to avoid the presence of condensate drops on the second longitudinalsidewall 49 due to the difference between surface temperature and theatmosphere temperature. In this embodiment, the third heater 47 isattached to the inner side of the second longitudinal sidewall 49. Thethird heater 47 is preferably a resistance heater, i.e. performingheating by resistors.

The second longitudinal sidewall 49 is provided with a third heatconducting element 54 attached to the inner side thereof. The third heatconducting element 54 is located between the third heater 47 and theinner surface of the second longitudinal sidewall 49 to evenly transmitthe heat generated by the third heater 47 to the second longitudinalsidewall 49. Preferably, the third heat conducting element 54 isattached to the inner surface of the second longitudinal sidewall 49 byadhesive means (such as an adhesive tape).

It is most preferably to arrange the third heater 47 and/or the thirdheat conducting element 54 on a region of the second longitudinalsidewall 49 which is corresponded to the dispenser 8 in the longitudinaldirection. Preferably, the third heater 47 at least partially overlapsthe dispenser 8 in a transverse direction.

FIG. 5 shows a structural schematic diagram of the refrigeratoraccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Now a controlmethod of the first heater 38 and the second heater 39 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 5.

The refrigerator 1 comprises a control unit 41, and an input unit 43 anda display unit 44 coupled to the control unit 41 respectively, whereinthe input unit 43 comprises the buttons or touch area 22 located on thecontrol panel 20, and the display unit 44 comprises the display screen21 located on the control panel 20. The control unit 41 comprises amicroprocessor and a memory unit, such that some components of therefrigerator 1 such as the first heater 38 can be automaticallycontrolled by means of a program stored in the memory unit.

The refrigerator 1 further comprises a sensing unit 42 for detecting atleast one environmental parameter. The sensing unit 42 is coupled to thecontrol unit 41 and feeds back the detected parameter to the controlunit 41. In this embodiment, the sensing unit 42 comprises a temperaturesensor for detecting ambient temperature. The sensing unit 42 controlsthe operation of the first heater 38, including turning on and turningoff the first heater 38, based on the detected ambient temperature.

In a preferred embodiment, when the detected ambient temperature islower than zero ° C., the first heater 38 is turned off. When thedetected ambient temperature is between 0° C. and 10° C., the firstheater 38 operates at a first output power and/or operates at a dutycycle of lower than 0.3. When the detected ambient temperature isbetween 10° C. and 15° C., the first heater 38 is turned on at a secondoutput power, or the first heater 38 is turned on and off in analternative manner at a second duty cycle (for example, 0.4). When thedetected ambient temperature is between 15° C. and 25° C., the firstheater 38 is turned on at a third output power and/or operates at apredetermined third duty cycle (for example, 0.5).

In an alternative embodiment, the sensing unit 42 further comprises ahumidity sensor for detecting ambient relative humidity. The controlunit 41 controls the operations of the first heater 38 based on thedetected ambient temperature, ambient relative humidity and otherfactors.

The second heater 39 is controlled independently of the first heater 38.According to the invention, the second heater 39 is turned on only in anauxiliary heating mode, which is only manually initiated by the user.Thus, the user can, according to the dewing phenomenon on therefrigerator 1, make an active decision as to whether the second heater39 should be actuated to increase heat for removing or preventingdewing.

In a preferred embodiment, the auxiliary heating mode is actuated bymeans of switching means 45 arranged on the freezing compartment door 3.The switching means 45 is preferably arranged on the dispenser 8 or nearthe dispenser 8. Particularly preferably, the switching means 45 isarranged on the partition plate 15.

In an embodiment, the switching means 45 is electrically connected tothe second heater 39, and the turning on and off states of the secondheater 39 is determined by the switching on and off states of theswitching means 45. Preferably, when the switching means 45 is in theswitching off state and the refrigerator 1 operates in a normal mode,the first heater 38 is turned on or off based on an instruction from thecontrol unit 41, and the second heater 39 is turned off. When the useroperates the switching means 45 to switch on it, the refrigerator 1actuates the auxiliary heating mode, the second heater 39 is turned onto supply extra heat to the dispenser casing 10, and at the same timethe first heater 38 is turned on or off based on an instruction from thecontrol unit 41.

The switching means 45 can be provided independently of the control unit41. For example, there is no coupling between the switching means 45 andthe microprocessor of the control unit 41. In an alternative embodiment,the switching means 45 is connected to the control unit 41. For example,the display unit 44 can display whether the refrigerator 1 is under thenormal heating mode or the auxiliary heating mode, or the user canselect the parameters displayed on the display unit 44 by means of theswitching means 45 in order to initiate the auxiliary heating mode.

The second heater 39 can be turned off by manually switching off theswitching means 45, so that the auxiliary heating mode is ended. In analternative embodiment, the second heater 39 can also be automaticallyturned off. For example, the control unit 41 is configured in such amanner of automatically turning off the second heater 39 after thesecond heater 39 has been turned on for a predetermined time, such as 15minutes. This can be achieved by virtue of timing means connected to thecontrol unit 41. The timing means is configured in such a way that itgenerates a signal when the second heater 39 has been turned on for apredetermined time, and then the second heater 39 is turned off based onthis signal. Under the condition that the switching means 45 is notcoupled with the microprocessor of the control unit 41, this can beachieved by timing means connected to the switching means 45 or timingmeans embedded the switching means 45.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the control manner of the thirdheater 47 is the same as that of the first heater 38, that is, beingautomatically controlled by the control unit 41 based on detectedparameters. In a preferred embodiment, the parameter comprises ambienttemperature, ambient relative humidity and/or the temperature of thesidewall 49, such that the control unit 41 can control the third heater47 based on the ambient temperature, the ambient relative humidityand/or the temperature of the sidewall 49, so as to for exampledetermine whether or not the third heater 47 should be turned on, ordetermine the frequency of turning on and off or the duty cycle of thethird heater 47.

1-11. (canceled)
 12. A refrigerator, comprising: a freezing compartment,a door for selectively opening or closing at least a part of thefreezing compartment, said door comprising a foam insulating layer and asidewall contacting the foam insulating layer; and a heater installedcorrelative with the sidewall to supply heat to the sidewall.
 13. Therefrigerator of claim 12, wherein the heater is located on an inner sideof the sidewall.
 14. The refrigerator of claim 12, further comprising anadhesive for attaching the heater to an inner side of the sidewall. 15.The refrigerator of claim 12, further comprising a heat conductingelement for transmitting heat generated by the heater to the sidewall,said heat conducting element being located between an inner surface ofthe sidewall and the heater.
 16. The refrigerator of claim 12 whereinthe door is rotatable around a rotation axis parallel to a verticalaxis, said sidewall being arranged in parallel relation to the rotationaxis.
 17. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein the sidewall is locateddistant from the rotation axis.
 18. The refrigerator of claim 12,further comprising a dispenser located on the door and configured todispense ice.
 19. The refrigerator of claim 18, wherein the heater is atleast partially overlapped with the dispenser in a transverse directionthereof.
 20. The refrigerator of claim 18, further comprising a heatingunit for supplying heat to the dispenser.
 21. The refrigerator of claim12, further comprising a control unit and a sensing unit for detectingat least one parameter, wherein the heater is automatically controlledby the control unit in response to the parameter detected by the sensingunit.
 22. The refrigerator of claim 21, wherein the parameter comprisesambient temperature and/or ambient relative humidity and/or atemperature of the sidewall.